Brewery Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment is required in many industries, including mining, pharmaceutical and food & beverage. Water is widely used in the food & beverage industry as an ingredient, a cleaning agent, for cooling and boiling purposes and as a means of transportation and conditioning for raw materials.

One of the main areas that water is used is within the beer brewing process, where it is estimated that for every one litre of beer brewed, almost 10 litres of water are used! This is because the beer brewing process requires water for the brewing, rinsing and cooling processes. As a result, large amounts of wastewater effluents and solid wastes must be disposed of and treated in the least costly way.

The government sets strict discharge regulations to protect both human and animal life, and the environment. As an implication of this, breweries must ensure that they are safely treating the brewery wastewater for reuse (in a cost-effective way). Brewery wastewater is treated aerobically; a process where bacteria use oxygen to degrade organic matter and other pollutants, thus converting it into carbon dioxide. This treatment separates the wastewater into treated wastewater, and brewery wastewater sludge. The treated wastewater can be safely re-used, whilst the sludge goes into sludge treatment.

Find out how SNF can help with wastewater treatment in the food and beverage industry, or read about the work we do in other industries.